No Scope Of Argument Or Competition Among Judiciary, Legislature & Courts As Per Spirit Of Our Constitution: PM Narendra Modi

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi today addressed the inaugural session of the All India Conference of Law Ministers and Secretaries in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat wherein he underlined the supremacy of the Constitution over the Judiciary, Legislature, and Executive.

"Be it the government, Parliament, our courts, all three are, in a way, the children of the same mother. So even though the functions are different, if we look at the spirit of the constitution, there is no scope for argument or competition. Like the children of a mother, all three have to serve Maa Bharati, together they have to take India to new heights in the 21st century", the Prime Minister remarked.

He was speaking in the inaugural session of the two-day conference is being hosted by the Ministry of Law & Justice. The objective of the Conference is to provide a common forum for policymakers to discuss issues relating to the Indian Legal and Judicial system.

During his address, the PM stressed the need for a dependable and speedy justice system for a healthy and confident society in a developing country like India. "When justice is seen being served, then the faith of the countrymen in the constitutional institutions strengthens," he remarked.

Further, throwing light on the special emphasis on removing the pressure of the government from the citizens of India, the Prime Minister said that the people of the country should neither feel the absence of government nor feel the pressure of the government.

Opining that unnecessary laws contribute to the pressure created by the government, he informed the gathering that in the last 8 years, India has repealed more than one and a half thousand archaic laws and reduced more than 32 thousand compliances to put an end to the legal hurdles that obstruct the path of innovation and ease of living.

The Prime Minister also urged the Law Ministers and Secretaries said to make new laws by abolishing the laws which have been going on since the time of slavery.

Further, he noted that the delay in serving justice has come across as the biggest challenge and the judiciary is working with utmost seriousness in this direction. Throwing light on the mechanism of alternative dispute resolution, the Prime Minister suggested that it has been put to good use in the villages of India for a long time and can now be promoted to the state level. "We have to understand how to make it a part of the legal system at the local level in the states", PM added.

Noting the responsibility of the ministers in formulating laws in the Parliament, the Prime Minister remarked that if there is confusion in the law itself, it is the common citizens who have to bear the brunt of it in the future, no matter the intentions. He further added that ordinary citizens have to spend a lot of money and run around from post to pillar to get justice.

Drawing examples from other countries, the Prime Minister noted that when a law is made in the Parliament or Legislative Assembly, it is prepared to explain it in detail within the definition of law, and secondly to draft the law in a language that can be easily understood by the common man.

On the issue of the use of local languages in the justice delivery system, the Prime Minister said that local language plays a big role in the legal system for ease of justice and that an academic ecosystem will have to be created for the youth in the mother tongue.

"Law courses should be in the mother tongue, our laws should be written in simple language, digital libraries of important cases of High Courts and Supreme Court should be in local language", he added.

The Prime Minister also raised the issues being faced by the Undertrial prisoners as he urged the dignitaries to work towards speedy trials for the disposal of such cases. The Prime Minister further added that state governments should work with a humane approach regarding undertrial prisoners so that the judicial system moves forward with human ideals.